Non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions

ABSTRACT

A non-transitory computer-readable medium stores computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions, in response to being activated by an operating system, causing the portable terminal to perform: a first acceptance process of accepting an operation designating one of image forming devices communicable; a first storage process of causing the memory to store a first device ID, as a designated device ID; a second acceptance process of accepting an operation designating contents; and an operation instruction process of transmitting operation instruction information, and the computer-readable instructions, in response to being activated by another program, causing the portable terminal to perform: an acquisition process of acquiring, from the another program, a second device ID for identifying the image forming device; and a second storage process of causing the memory to store the second device ID, as the designated device ID.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No.2017-010113 filed on Jan. 24, 2017, the entire subject matter of whichis incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to a program of a portable terminal that causesan image forming device to execute an image forming operation.

BACKGROUND

For example, a background art discloses a program (hereinafter, referredto as “first program”) that causes an image forming device to execute animage forming operation. More specifically, the first program disclosedin the background art causes an image forming device designated by auser to execute an image forming operation designated by the user.

In addition, the first program having the above-described configurationcan activate a program (hereinafter, referred to as “second program”)such as a program that substitutes for the function of the first programor a program that supplements the function of the first program. Thesecond program has a function, for example, of providing a user with aninterface for editing image data and instructing the image formingdevice designated by the user for the image forming operation suitablefor the image data edited through the interface.

SUMMARY

However, for example, when the second program is activated after theimage forming device is designated through the first program, if it isnecessary to designate again the image forming device through the secondprogram, there is a problem that the operation becomes complicated.

This disclosure provides a technique for simplifying the operation fordesignating the image forming device in the second program that can beactivated by the first program.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium in this disclosure storescomputer-readable instructions to control a portable terminal includinga memory, an input interface, and a communication interface, thecomputer-readable instructions, in response to being activated by anoperating system of the portable terminal due to an operation throughthe input interface, causing the portable terminal to perform: a firstacceptance process of accepting an operation, through the inputinterface, designating one of image forming devices communicable throughthe communication interface; a first storage process of causing thememory to store a first device ID for identifying the image formingdevice designated by the first acceptance process, as a designateddevice ID; a second acceptance process of accepting an operationdesignating contents of an image forming operation through the inputinterface; and an operation instruction process of transmittingoperation instruction information for causing the image formingoperation having the contents designated by the second acceptanceprocess to be performed to the image forming device identified by thedesignated device ID stored in the memory, through the communicationinterface, and the computer-readable instructions, in response to beingactivated by another program stored in the memory, causing the portableterminal to perform: an acquisition process of acquiring, from theanother program, a second device ID for identifying the image formingdevice which is designated by a user caused by the another program; anda second storage process of causing the memory to store the seconddevice ID acquired by the acquisition process, as the designated deviceID used in the operation instruction process.

According to the above configuration, when being activated by anotherprogram (hereinafter, referred to as “activation source program”)installed in the portable terminal, since the program causes the memoryto store the second device ID acquired from the activation sourceprogram as the designated device ID, the first acceptance process can beskipped. That is, when the image forming device is designated throughthe activation source program, there is no need to designate the imageforming device again through the program, so that the operation fordesignating the image forming device is simplified.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium of another aspect of thisdisclosure stores computer-readable instructions to control a portableterminal including a memory, an input interface, and a communicationinterface. The memory stores one or more external programs that causes:the memory to store a device ID for identifying an image forming devicedesignated through the input interface by a user or a device ID acquiredfrom the program, as a designated device ID; and the image formingdevice, which is identified by the designated device ID stored in thememory, to perform an image forming operation designated through theinput interface by the user. The computer-readable instructions causesthe portable terminal to perform: a first acceptance process ofaccepting an operation designating the image forming device communicablethrough the communication interface, through the input interface; asecond acceptance process of accepting an operation designating contentsof the image forming operation through the input interface; an operationinstruction process of transmitting operation instruction informationfor causing the image forming operation having the contents designatedin the second acceptance process to be performed to the image formingdevice designated in the first acceptance process, through thecommunication interface; a third acceptance process of accepting anoperation for designating the external program stored in the memory,through the input interface; and an activation process of activating theexternal program designated in the third acceptance process anddelivering a device ID for identifying the image forming devicedesignated in the first acceptance process.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and additional features and characteristics of thisdisclosure will become more apparent from the following detaileddescriptions considered with the reference to the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2A is a block diagram of an MFP;

FIG. 2B is a block diagram of portable terminal;

FIG. 3A is an example of first designated device information stored in amemory;

FIG. 3B is an example of second designated device information stored inthe memory;

FIG. 3C is an example of first condition information stored in thememory;

FIG. 3D is an example of second condition information stored in thememory;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a main process;

FIG. 5A is a flowchart of a device selection process;

FIG. 5B is a flowchart of an application introduction process;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a communication side editing process;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a communication side printing process;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a device setting process;

FIG. 9A is an example of a menu screen displayed on a display;

FIG. 9B is an example of a main screen displayed on the display;

FIG. 10A is an example of a device selection screen displayed on thedisplay;

FIG. 10B is an example of an application introduction screen displayedon the display;

FIG. 11A is an example of a template editing screen displayed on thedisplay;

FIG. 11B is an example of a preview screen displayed on the display;

FIG. 12A is an example of an inquiry screen A displayed on the display;and

FIG. 12B is an example of an inquiry screen B displayed on the display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, referring to the accompanying drawings, an illustrativeembodiment according to this disclosure will be described. It should benoted that the illustrative embodiment described hereinafter is only anexample of a described configuration and can be modified in various wayswithout departing from aspects of this disclosure. For example, an orderof execution of processes described later could be changed withoutchanging the aspects of this disclosure.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 according to an embodiment of thisdisclosure. The system 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes MFPs 10A and 10B(hereinafter, which will also be collectively referred to as MFP 10),and a portable terminal 50. The MFP 10 and the portable terminal 50 areconfigured to communicate with each other through a communicationnetwork 101. The communication network 101 may be a wired LAN, awireless LAN, or combination of the wired LAN and wireless.Alternatively, the MFP 10 and the portable terminal 50 may be connectedto each other by a USB cable or the like.

The MFP 10 mainly includes, as illustrated in FIG. 2A, a printer 11, ascanner 12, a display 23, an input I/F 24, a communication I/F 25, a CPU31, a memory 32, and a communication bus 33. Components constituting theMFP 10 are interconnected through the communication bus 33. The MFP 10is an example of an image forming device.

The printer 11 is hardware configured to execute a printing operation ofrecording an image represented by image data on a sheet. As a recordingmethod of the printer 11, an inkjet printer 11 for recording an image bydischarging ink is described as an example in the embodiment, but anelectrophotographic printer may be employed. The scanner 12 is hardwareconfigured to execute a scanning operation of reading an image recordedon a document and generating image data (hereinafter, referred to as“scan data”). The printing operation and the scanning operation areexamples of the image forming operation.

Specific examples of the image forming operation are not limited tothese operations. The image forming operation may be, for example, a FAXtransmitting operation that transmitting image data to an externaldevice according to a FAX protocol with FAX or a FAX receiving operationthat receives image data from an external device according to a FAXprotocol with FAX. In addition, the MFPs 10A and 10B may be capable ofexecuting at least one image forming operation. Further, the imageforming operations executable by the MFPs 10A and 10B may be differentfrom each other.

The printer 11 executes a printing operation according to predeterminedexecution conditions. The execution conditions of the printing operationare specified by a plurality of parameters corresponding to a pluralityof items (for example, “size”, “paper type”, and “color”). The item“size” indicates the size (for example, “A4”, “B5”, “Japanese L”, or“postcard”) of a sheet on which an image is recorded. The item “papertype” indicates the type (for example, “plain paper”, “glossy paper”, or“inkjet paper”) of the sheet on which the image is recorded. The item“color” indicates the gradation (for example, “color” or “black andwhite”) of the color of the image recorded on the sheet.

The scanner 12 executes a scanning operation according to predeterminedexecution conditions. The execution conditions of the scanning operationare specified by a plurality of parameters corresponding to a pluralityof items (for example, “resolution”, “color”, and “format”). The item“resolution” indicates reading resolution (for example, “300 dpi” or“600 dpi”) at the time of reading an image recorded on a document. Theitem “color” indicates the gradation (for example, “black and white”,“256 colors”, or “full color”) of the color of the read image. The item“format” indicates the file format (for example, “PDF”, “TIFF”, or“JPEG”) of scan data.

Further, the MFP 10 may be capable of executing a specific operation.The specific operation is, for example, an image forming operation thatcan be executed only by the MFP 10 provided with specific hardware orsoftware. The specific operation may be an image forming operationdifferent from the printing operation, the scanning operation, the FAXtransmitting operation, and the FAX receiving operation which aredescribed above, or may be a printing operation, a scanning operation, aFAX transmitting operation, and a FAX receiving operation which areexecuted according to execution conditions indicating that specifichardware is used. The specific operations according to the embodimentare a label printing operation, a double-sided printing operation, and apostcard printing operation. However, specific examples of the specificoperations are not limited to these operations, and may be a part of theprinting operation, the scanning operation, the FAX transmittingoperation, and the FAX receiving operation, for example.

The label printing operation is a printing operation of recording animage on a disk-shaped recording medium such as CD-ROM. That is, it isnecessary that the MFP 10 capable of executing the label printingoperation includes not only a sheet but also hardware for conveying theCD-ROM (for example, a mechanism for adjusting a distance between a pairof rollers rotating while holding the recording medium).

The double-sided printing operation is a printing operation of recordingimages on front and rear surfaces of the sheet. That is, it is necessarythat the MFP 10 capable of executing the double-sided printing operationincludes hardware for reversing the sheet (for example, a reversingconveyance path for reversing the sheet and guides it to a positionwhere the sheet faces a recording head, and a pair of conveyance rollersfor conveying the sheet along the reversing conveyance path).

The postcard printing operation is a printing operation of recording animage on a postcard. That is, it is necessary that the MFP 10 capable ofexecuting the postcard printing operation includes hardware forconveying the postcard (for example, a conveyance roller disposed at aposition where the postcard can come into contact with a postcard-sizedrecording medium).

The display 23 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display or thelike which includes a display surface to display various information.

The input I/F 24 is a user interface to accept user's input operations.In particular, the input I/F 24 has buttons and outputs to the CPU 31various operation signals corresponding respectively to the pressedbuttons. Further, the input I/F 24 may have a film-like touch sensoroverlaid on the display surface of the display 23. The operationdesignating an object displayed on the display surface of the display 23and the operation inputting character strings or number strings are anexample of the operation. The term “object” refers to, for example, acharacter string, icon, button, link, radio button, check box, pull-downmenu, or the like which is displayed on the display 23.

The input I/F 24 realized as a touch sensor outputs positionalinformation indicating a position on the display surface touched by theuser. Further, the term “touch” used in this specification includes alloperations causing an input medium to contact with the display surface.Further, the above-described concept of “touch” may also include “hover”or “floating touch” which causes the input medium to approach such aposition that the distance between the input medium and the displaysurface is extremely short, without the need for the input medium tocontact with the display surface. Further, the input medium may refer toa finger of the user, a touch pen, or the like. The user's operation oftapping the position of an object displayed on the display 23 is anexample of the operation for designating the object.

The communication I/F 25 is an interface for carrying out communicationswith external devices via the communication network 101. That is, theMFP 10 sends various information to the external device via thecommunication I/F 25 and receives various information from the externaldevice via the communication I/F 25. While the communication I/F 25 isnot limited particularly to any specific communication procedure, it ispossible, for example, to adopt Wi-Fi (the registered trademark). Inaddition, when the MFP 10 and the portable terminal 50 are connected toeach other by a USB cable, the communication I/F 25 may be a USBinterface to which the USB cable can be detachably attached.

The CPU 31 controls the overall operation of the MFP 10. The CPU 31acquires various programs (to be described below) from the memory 32 andexecutes based on various information output from the input I/F 24 andvarious information received from the external devices via thecommunication I/F 25. The CPU 31 and the memory 32 are configured as oneexample of a controller.

The memory 32 stores the OS 34 and the device program 35. The deviceprogram 35 may be a single program or an aggregate of a plurality ofprograms. Further, the memory 32 stores data or information necessaryfor executing the device program 35. The memory 32 is constituted by,for example, a RAM, a ROM, an EEPROM, an HDD, a portable storage mediumsuch as a USB memory detachably attached to the MFP 10, a bufferprovided in the CPU 31, or a combination thereof.

The memory 32 may be a computer-readable storage medium. Acomputer-readable storage medium is a non-transitory medium. Anon-transitory medium includes other recording media such as a CD-ROM,DVD-ROM, or the like, in addition to the examples described above.Further, the non-transitory medium is also a tangible medium. On theother hand, while electrical signals carrying programs downloaded from aserver or the like on the Internet are computer-readable signal mediawhich are a sort of computer-readable media, but are not included in thenon-transitory computer-readable storage media. The same applies to amemory 62 (to be described below) of the portable terminal 50.

The MIB (abbreviation of Management Information Base) of the memory 32stores device information illustrated in FIG. 1. The device informationincludes a device ID for identifying the MFP 10 and function informationfor indicating whether the MFP 10 executes the specific operation. Thatis, the MFP 10A is identified by a device ID “MFP-A”, wherein thedouble-sided printing operation and the postcard printing operation areexecutable, and the label printing operation is not executable. On theother hand, the MFP 10B is identified by a device ID “MFP-B”, whereinthe label printing operation and the postcard printing operation isexecutable, and the double-sided printing operation is not executable.

The portable terminal 50 mainly has a display 53, an input I/F 54, acommunication I/F 55, a CPU 61, a memory 62, and a communication bus 63as illustrated in FIG. 2B. The display 53, the input I/F 54, thecommunication I/F 55, the CPU 61, the memory 62, and the communicationbus 63 provided to the portable terminal 50 have substantially the sameconfiguration of the display 23, the input I/F 24, the communication I/F25, the CPU 31, the memory 32, and the communication bus 33,respectively, and description thereof will be omitted for brevity. It isnoted that the CPU 61 and the memory 62 are examples of a controller.

The portable terminal 50 is, for example, a cellular phone, asmartphone, or a tablet terminal. Specifically, the display 53 of theportable terminal 50 preferably has a size of the display screen equalto or less than 12 inches, and more preferably, equal to or less thaneight inches. Further, it is also preferable that the input I/F 54 ofthe portable terminal 50 is a touch sensor overlaid on the displayscreen of the display 53. The memory 62 stores an OS 64, an operationinstruction program 65, and a new year's card program 66 which is anexample of an external program.

The OS 64 may be, for example, Android (registered trademark) OS, iOS(registered trademark), or Windows Phone (registered trademark)Operating System. The OS 64 can execute a plurality of programsinstalled in the portable terminal 50 in parallel. The plurality ofprograms are virtually executed in parallel by a time division multiplexsystem, for example. In addition, the OS 64 executes one of theplurality of programs to be executed in parallel in the foreground,executes other programs in the background.

For example, the foreground is a state in which a screen based on theexecution of the corresponding program is displayed in most of thedisplay area of the display 53. The background is, for example, a statein which a screen based on the execution of a program different from thecorresponding program is displayed in most of the display area of thedisplay 53. That is, the portable terminal 50 can cause only the screenbased on the execution of the program executed in the foreground to bedisplayed on the display 53, the program being one of the plurality ofprograms executed in parallel.

The operation instruction program 65 is a program that causes the MFP 10connected via the communication I/F 55 to execute the image formingoperation. More specifically, the operation instruction program 65causes the user to designate the contents of the image forming operation(for example, the type of the image forming operation, image data to besubjected to the image forming operation, and execution conditions ofthe image forming operation) via the input I/F 54, and makes the MFP 10execute the image forming operation of the designated contents. Further,the operation instruction program 65 can instruct the MFP 10 to performthe postcard printing operation, but cannot instruct the MFP 10 toperform the label printing operation and the double-sided printingoperation.

Furthermore, the operation instruction program 65 can activate anexternal program installed in the portable terminal 50. For example, theoperation instruction program 65 designates a program ID of the externalprogram as an argument, and executes an API (hereinafter, referred to as“activation API”) provided by the OS 64. In response to the execution ofthe activation API, the OS 64 activates the external program identifiedby the designated program ID. The operation instruction program 65 mayactivate the external program as a so-called plug-in, or may activatethe external program using a shared function provided by the OS 64.

The new year's card program 66 is an external program causes the MFP 10to execute the postcard printing operation of editing an image(hereinafter, referred to “communication-side image”) to be recorded ona communication side of a postcard (typically, new year's card)according to an instruction of the user and recording the editedcommunication-side image on the communication side of the postcard. Inaddition, the new year's card program 66 can instruct the MFP 10 toperform the double-sided printing operation, but cannot instruct the MFP10 to perform the label printing operation. Further, the new year's cardprogram 66 includes more variations (for example, photographs,information of a sender, combination of arbitrary character strings ontoa template image) of instructions for editing the communication-sideimage than the operation instruction program 65.

A specific example of the external program is not limited to the newyear's card program 66. As another example of the external program,there may be a label program that causes the MFP 10 to execute a labelprinting operation of editing an image (hereinafter, referred to “labelimage”) to be recorded on a surface of a CD-ROM or the like according toan instruction of the user and recording the edited label image on theCD-ROM or the like. As further another example of the external program,there may be a map program that causes the MFP 10 to execute a printingoperation of receiving map image data indicating a map image of an areadesignated by the user from a server (not illustrated) on the Internetand targeting the received map image data.

As described above, the external program may be one in which a functionnot implemented in the operation instruction program 65 is implemented,a function implemented in the operation instruction program 65 can beeasily realized, and the function implemented in the operationinstruction program 65 is further detailed. Further, the externalprogram is a program that is different from operation instructionprogram 65 and can be executed independently. That is, the externalprogram is different from subroutines of the operation instructionprogram 65. In addition, the external program is a program that operateson the portable terminal 50, similarly to the operation instructionprogram 65.

Further, the external program may have a function of generatingoperation instruction information for instructing the execution of theimage forming operation according to a predetermined protocol (forexample, PS or PJL) and transmitting the generated operation instructioninformation to the MFP 10 via the communication I/F 55. Alternatively,the external program may request generation and transmission of theoperation instruction information for another program (for example, adriver program) installed in the operation instruction program 65 or theportable terminal 50 and instruct indirectly the MFP 10 to perform theimage forming operation through the program.

As illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the memory 62 can store designateddevice information. The designated device information is deviceinformation that is stored in the MIB of the MFP 10 (hereinafter,referred to “designated device” designated by the device selectionprocess to be described below. The device ID included in the designateddevice information is an example of a designated device ID. The memory62 can separately store first designated device informationcorresponding to the designated device designated through the new year'scard program 66 and second designated device information correspondingto the designated device designated through the operation instructionprogram 65. That is, the first designated device information and thesecond designated device information may indicate the same MFP 10 or mayindicate different MFPs 10.

In addition, the function information included in the designated deviceinformation differs depending on the program that causes the memory 62to store the designated device information. As an example, asillustrated in FIG. 3A, the first designated device information storedby the new year's card program 66 includes function informationcorresponding to the double-sided printing operation and postcardprinting operation that the new year's card program 66 can instruct theMFP 10, and does not include function information corresponding to thelabel printing operation that the new year's card program 66 cannotinstruct the MFP 10. As another example, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, thesecond designated device information stored by the operation instructionprogram 65 includes function information corresponding to the postcardprinting operation that the operation instruction program 65 caninstruct the MFP 10, and does not include function informationcorresponding to the label printing operation and the double-sidedprinting operation that the operation instruction program 65 cannotinstruct the MFP 10.

In addition, the memory 62 can store condition information asillustrated in FIGS. 3C and 3D, for example. The condition informationis information indicating an execution condition of the image formingoperation to be executed by the designated device. The memory 62 canseparately store first condition information indicating an executioncondition designated through the new year's card program 66 and secondcondition information indicating an execution condition designatedthrough the operation instruction program 65. That is, the firstcondition information and the second condition information may indicatethe same execution condition, or may indicate different executionconditions. FIGS. 3C and 3D illustrate condition information of theprinting operation, but condition information of the scanning operationor the like may be additionally stored in the memory 62.

Although not illustrated in the drawings, a data folder may be providedin the memory 62. The data folder may store, for example, photographdata, document data, presentation data, and spreadsheet data. Varioustypes of data stored in the data folder are data which can be subjectedto the printing operation.

Operation of System 100

An operation of the system 100 according to the embodiment will bedescribed with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8. At the time of starting a mainprocess in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the memory 62 stores the firstdesignated device information illustrated in FIG. 3A, the firstcondition information illustrated in FIG. 3C, and the second conditioninformation illustrated in FIG. 3D, but does not store the seconddesignated device information.

Flowcharts described in the present specification basically indicateprocesses of the CPUs 31 and 61, respectively, each in accordance withan instruction described in a program. Namely, the processes such as“determining”, “extracting”, “selecting”, “calculating”, “specifying”,“controlling”, etc., in the following explanation represent theprocesses of the CPUs 31 and 61. The processes by the CPUs 31 and 61also include hardware controls via the OS 34 and OS 64, respectively.Further, the term “data” in the present specification is represented bya bit sequence which is readable by a computer. Furthermore, a pluralityof pieces of data of which substantive meanings and contents are samebut are different in format thereof are handled as a same data. Thisalso applies similarly to the term “information” in the presentspecification.

First, the OS 64 of the portable terminal 50 causes the display 53 todisplay a menu screen illustrated in FIG. 9A. The menu screen includesprogram icons 111, 112, 113, and 114 corresponding to programs installedin the portable terminal 50. The program icon 111 corresponds to theoperation instruction program 65, the program icon 112 corresponds tothe new year's card program 66, the program icon 113 corresponds to thelabel program, and the program icon 114 corresponds to the map program.Then, the OS 64 accepts an operation on the menu screen through theinput I/F 54.

As an example, the OS 64 activates the new year's card program 66 inresponse to the designation of the program icon 112 through the inputI/F 54 and executes the new year's card program 66 in the foreground.The new year's card program 66 executes a communication side editingprocess illustrated in FIG. 6 in response to the activation by the OS 64resulting from the operation of tapping the program icon 112. Details ofthe communication side editing process will be described below.

As another example, the OS 64 activates operation instruction program 65in response to the designation of the program icon 111 through the inputI/F 54, and executes the operation instruction program 65 in theforeground. The operation instruction program 65 executes the mainprocess illustrated in FIG. 4, in response to the activation by the OS64 resulting from the operation of tapping the program icon 111.

Operation of Operation Instruction Program 65

First, the operation instruction program 65 causes the display 53 todisplay a main screen illustrated in FIG. 9B (S11). The main screenincludes operating icons 121 and 122, a switching icon 124, and an“Info” icon 125. The operating icon 121 corresponding to an executioninstruction of the printing operation, the operating icon 122corresponds to an execution instruction of the scanning operation. Theswitching icon 124 corresponds to a switching instruction of thedesignated device. When the second designated device information is notstored in the memory 62, a character string “non-selective” indicatingthat the designated device is not selected is described in the switchingicon 124. The “Info” icon 125 corresponds to a display instruction of anapplication introduction screen to be described below. Then, theoperation instruction program 65 accepts the operation on the mainscreen through the input I/F 54 (S12 to S14).

Next, in response to accepting the designation of the switching icon 124through the input I/F 54 (S12: Yes), for example, the operationinstruction program 65 executes the device selection process (S15). Thedevice selection process is a process of switching the designated deviceaccording to a user's instruction. With reference to FIG. 5A, details ofthe device selection process will be described.

First, the operation instruction program 65 searches for a plurality ofMFPs 10 capable of communicating through the communication I/F 55 using,for example, SNMP (abbreviation of Simple Network Management Protocol)(S21). Specifically, the operation instruction program 65 broadcaststransmission request information to the communication network 101through the communication I/F 55. Next, in response to the transmissionrequest information, the operation instruction program 65 receives thedevice ID transmitted from the MFPs 10A and 10B through thecommunication I/F 55. That is, the operation instruction program 65specifies the MFPS 10A and 10B which are transmission sources of thedevice ID, as the communicable MFP 10. It should be noted that themethod of searching the communicable MFP 10 may be another well-knownmethod.

Next, the operation instruction program 65 causes the display 53 todisplay a device selection screen illustrated in FIG. 10A (S22). Thedevice selection screen includes device icons 131 and 132 correspondingto the MFP 10A and 10B searched in S21. Then, the operation instructionprogram 65 accepts the operation on the device selection screen throughthe input I/F 54 (S23). The process of S23 is an example of a firstacceptance process.

Next, in response to accepting the designation of the device icon 132through the input I/F 54 (S23: Yes), for example, the operationinstruction program 65 transmits function request information forrequesting transmission of the function information corresponding to thepostcard printing operation the MFP 10B corresponding to the device icon132 through the communication I/F 55. Next, in response to the functionrequest information, the operation instruction program 65 receivesfunction information “possible” corresponding to the postcard printingoperation through the communication I/F 55 from the MFP 10B. Theprocedure for receiving the function information from the MFP 10 is thesame as in S44 to be described below.

Then, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, the operation instruction program 65causes the memory 62 to store the second designated device informationincluding the device ID “MFP-B” received from the MFP 10B and thefunction information “possible” corresponding to the postcard printingoperation (S24). When the second designated device information isalready stored in the memory 62, the operation instruction program 65overwrites the second designated device information with new seconddesignated device information.

Subsequently, returning to FIG. 4, the operation instruction program 65causes the display 53 to display the main screen (S11). On the mainscreen after the device icon 132 is designated, the switching icon 124describes the device ID “MFP-B” of the second designated deviceinformation. Next, in response to accepting the designation of theoperating icons 121 and 122 through the input I/F 54 (S13: Yes), forexample, the operation instruction program 65 executes an operationinstruction process for causing the designated device to execute theimage forming operation associated with the operating icons 121 and 122(S16). Although illustration of the operation instruction process is notpresented, for example, the following process is executed.

As an example, when the operating icon 121 is tapped, the operationinstruction program 65 accepts an operation for designating one of theplurality of data stored in the data folder of the memory 62 asdesignation data, through the input I/F 54. Further, in response toaccepting the operation for changing the parameter included in thesecond condition information through the input I/F 54, the operationinstruction program 65 overwrites the second condition information withthe changed parameter. The process of accepting the tap of the operatingicon 121, the designation of the designation data, and the change of thesecond condition information are an example of the second acceptanceprocess of accepting the operation for specifying the content of theprinting operation.

Then, the operation instruction program 65 transmits print instructioninformation to the MFP 10B, which is the designated device, through thecommunication I/F 55. The print instruction information is an example ofthe operation instruction information for executing a printing operationtargeting the designation data according to the execution conditionindicated by the second condition information. The print instructioninformation includes, for example, the designation data and the secondcondition information.

On the other hand, the device program 35 of the MFP 10B receives theprint instruction information from the portable terminal 50 through thecommunication I/F 25. Then, the device program 35 causes the printer 11to execute the printing operation according to the received printinstruction information. That is, the printer 11 records the imageindicated by the designation data included in the print instructioninformation on the sheet, according to the execution condition indicatedby the second condition information included in the print instructioninformation.

As another example, when the operating icon 122 is tapped, the operationinstruction program 65 accepts an operation for designating theexecution condition of the scanning operation and an operation fordesignating a storage destination of the scan data generated by thescanning operation, through the input I/F 54. Then, the operationinstruction program 65 transmits scan instruction information to the MFP10B, which is the designated device, through the communication I/F 55.The scan instruction information is an example of the operationinstruction information for executing the scanning operation accordingto the designated execution conditions and executing a series of processof storing the scan data generated by the scanning operation in thedesignated storage destination.

On the other hand, the device program 35 of the MFP 10B receives thescan instruction information from the portable terminal 50 through thecommunication I/F 25. Then, the device program 35 causes the scanner 12to execute the scanning operation according to the received scaninstruction information. That is, the scanner 12 reads an image recordedon a contact glass or a document set in an ADF according to thedesignated execution conditions and generates scan data. Then, thescanner 12 stores the generated scan data in the designated storagedestination.

If the second designated device information is stored in the memory 62in the device selection process executed previously, the operationinstruction program 65 can execute the operation instruction processwithout executing the device selection process thereafter. That is, theoperation instruction program 65 can cause the designated deviceindicated by the second designated device information to be used as adefault device and to repeatedly execute the image forming operation.

In response to accepting the designation of the “Info” icon 125 throughthe input I/F 54 (S14: Yes), the operation instruction program 65executes the application introduction process (S17). The applicationintroduction process is a process of introducing an external programcapable of activating the operation instruction program 65 to the userand activating the external program designated by the user. Withreference to FIG. 5B, details of the application introduction processwill be described.

First, the operation instruction program 65 causes the display 53 todisplay the application introduction screen illustrated in FIG. 10B(S31). The application introduction screen includes application icons141, 142, and 143 corresponding to the external program capable ofactivating the operation instruction program 65. The application icon141 corresponds to the new year's card program 66, the application icon142 corresponds to the label program, and the application icon 143corresponds to the map program. Then, the operation instruction program65 accepts an operation on the application introduction screen throughthe input I/F 54 (S32). The process of S32 is an example of a thirdacceptance process.

Next, in response to accepting the designation of the application icon141 through the input I/F 54 (S32: Yes), for example, the operationinstruction program 65 determines whether the new year's card program 66(hereinafter, may be referred to as “target application”) correspondingto the designated application icon 141 is installed in the portableterminal 50 (S33). For example, the operation instruction program 65 mayexecute an inquiry API provided by the OS 64 API and acquireinstallation information indicating the presence or absence of thetarget application as a return value of the inquiry API.

Then, in response to determining that the new year's card program 66 isinstalled (S33: Yes), the operation instruction program 65 activates thenew year's card program 66 and delivers the second designated deviceinformation and the second condition information stored in the memory 62to the new year's card program 66 (S34). The process of S34 is anexample of an activation process. For example, the operation instructionprogram 65 may execute the activation API by designating the program IDof the new year's card program 66, the second designated deviceinformation, and the second condition information as arguments. Then,the OS 64 activates the new year's card program 66 while switching theoperation instruction program 65 in the background, and executes the newyear's card program 66 in the foreground.

As another example, the operation instruction program 65 may cause thesecond designated device information and the second conditioninformation to be stored in a specific area of the memory 62, specifythe program ID of the new year's card program 66 as an argument, andexecute the activation API. The specific area is, for example, an areaof the memory 62 that the new year's card program 66 accesses at thetime of activation. That is, the operation instruction program 65 maydeliver the second designated device information and the secondcondition information to the new year's card program 66 through thespecific area of the memory 62. On the other hand, the operationinstruction program 65 may not deliver the second designated deviceinformation and the second condition information when activating thetarget application as a plug-in.

Meanwhile, in response to determining that the new year's card program66 is not installed (S33: No), the operation instruction program 65installs the new year's card program 66 (S35). More specifically, theoperation instruction program 65 may designate the program ID of the newyear's card program 66 as an argument, and activate an installer (notillustrated). The installer activated by the operation instructionprogram 65 downloads the new year's card program 66 identified by theprogram ID acquired as an argument, from a server, for example, andcauses the downloaded new year's card program 66 to be stored in apredetermined area of the memory 62.

Operation of New Year's Card Program 66

In response to the activation by the OS 64 due to the operation oftapping the program icon 112 or the activation by the activation APIexecuted by the operation instruction program 65, the new year's cardprogram 66 executes the communication side editing process illustratedin FIG. 6. The new year's card program 66 can acquire, for example,activation information indicating how it is activated, as an activationargument. First, the new year's card program 66 determines a program ofan activation source based on the activation information acquired as theactivation argument (S41).

Next, in response to the determination that the new year's card program66 has been activated by the OS 64 due to the operation of tapping theprogram icon 112 (S41: OS), processes of S42 to S45 are skipped and atemplate selection screen (not illustrated) is displayed on the display53 (S46). The template selection screen is a screen for allowing theuser to select template image data to be recorded on the communicationside of the postcard. The template selection screen includes, forexample, template icons corresponding respectively to the plurality oftemplate image data. Then, the new year's card program 66 accepts theoperation on the template selection screen through the input I/F 54(S47).

Next, in response to accepting the designation of one of the pluralityof template icons through the input I/F 54 (S47: Yes), the new year'scard program 66 acquires the template image data corresponding to thedesignated template icon from the memory 62 or a server (notillustrated) on the Internet. The process of S47 is an example of thesecond acceptance process.

Next, the new year's card program 66 causes the display 53 to display atemplate editing screen illustrated in FIG. 11A (S48). The templateediting screen includes a template image 151, an area indication image152, a font icon 153, a stamp icon 154, a “save” icon 155, and a “print”icon 156. Then, the new year's card program 66 accepts the operation onthe template editing screen through the input I/F 54 (S49).

The template image 151 is an image indicated by the template image dataacquired in S47. The area indication image 152 is a frame type imageindicating an area reserved for combining a sender image representing asender of a postcard on the template image 151. The font icon 153corresponds to an instruction to switch a font type (for example, Gothictype or Mincho type) of characters included in the template image 151.The stamp icon 154 corresponds to an instruction to select a stamp to becombined with the template image 151.

As an example, in response to accepting the designation of the areaindication image 152 through the input I/F 54 (S49: edit), the newyear's card program 66 combines the sender image indicating the senderdesignated through the input I/F 54 with the template image 151 insteadof the area indication image 152 (S50). As another example, in responseto accepting the designation of the stamp icon 154 through the input I/F54 (S49: edit), the new year's card program 66 combines the stamp imagedesignated through the input I/F 54 into the template image 151 (S50).As further another example, in response to accepting the designation ofthe front icon 153 through the input I/F 54 (S49: edit), the new year'scard program 66 converts the characters included in the template image151 into the font type designated through the input I/F 54 (S50).

Then, the new year's card program 66 causes the display 53 to displaythe template editing screen including the edited template image 151(S48). Then, by repetitive execution of the processes S48 to S50, forexample, as illustrated in FIG. 11B, a sender image indicating asender's address “Nagoya city α-ward” and a name “Patent Taro” and arooster-symbol stamp image are combined with the template image 151. Aprocess of accepting the operation for instructing the combination ofthe sender image, the combination of the stamp image, and the conversionof the font type is an example of the second acceptance process.

Further, in response to accepting the designation of the “print” icon156 through the input I/F 54 (S49: print), the new year's card program66 executes a communication-side printing process (S51). Although notillustrated, in response to accepting the designation of the “save” icon155 through the input I/F 54, the new year's card program 66 causes thetemplate image data indicating the edited template image 151 to bestored in a predetermined area of the memory 62. The communication-sideprinting process is a process of instructing the designated device toexecute the postcard printing operation targeting the template image 151generated in S46 to S50. With reference to FIG. 7, details of thecommunication-side printing process will be described.

First, the new year's card program 66 causes the display 53 to display apreview screen illustrated in FIG. 11B (S61). The preview screenincludes a preview image 161, a switching icon 162, a “setting” icon163, and a “print” icon 164. The preview image 161 indicates a state inwhich the template image 151 generated in S46 to S50 is recorded on thepostcard. The switching icon 162 corresponds to a switching instructionof the designated device. The “setting” icon 163 corresponds to aswitching instruction of the first condition information. The “print”icon 164 corresponds to an execution instruction of the postcardprinting operation. Then, the new year's card program 66 accepts theoperation on the preview screen through the input I/F 54 (S62˜S64).

Next, in response to accepting the designation of the switching icon 162through the input I/F 54 (S62: Yes), for example, the new year's cardprogram 66 executes the device selection process illustrated in FIG. 5A(S65). Hereinafter, common points with the device selection processexecuted by the operation instruction program 65 will not be described,and processes peculiar to the new year's card program 66 will be mainlydescribed.

First, the new year's card program 66 may search all the MFPs 10 thatcan communicate through the communication I/F 55 in S21, or may searchonly the MFP 10 executable all the specific operations that can beinstructed by the that new year's card program 66. In response toaccepting the designation of the device icon 131 through the input I/F54 (S23: Yes), for example, the new year's card program 66 receives thefunction information corresponding to the double-sided printingoperation and the postcard printing operation from the MFP 10Acorresponding to the device icon 131.

Further, the new year's card program 66 causes the memory 62 to storethe device ID received from the MFP 10A and the first designated deviceinformation including the function information (S24). In the deviceselection process to be executed by the new year's card program 66, thedevice ID “MFP-A” of the MFP 10A corresponding to the device icon 131designated in S23 is an example of the first device ID. The process S24executed by the new year's card program 66 is an example of a firststorage process. Then, returning to FIG. 7, the new year's card program66 causes the display 53 to display the preview screen (S61). In theswitching icon 162 of the preview screen displayed herein, the device IDof the first designated device information stored in the memory 62 inthe latest process S24 is described.

In response to accepting the designation of the “setting” icon 163through the input I/F 54 (S63: Yes), the new year's card program 66accepts the operation for changing the parameter included in the firstcondition information, through the input I/F 54. Then, the new year'scard program 66 causes the parameter changed through the input I/F 54 toreflect on the first condition information stored in the memory 62(S66). The new year's card program 66 may not accept the change of theparameter “postcard” of the item “size”. The process of accepting theoperation for changing the parameter of the first condition informationis an example of the second acceptance process. Then, the new year'scard program 66 causes the display 53 to display the preview screen(S61).

Further, in response to accepting the designation of the “print” icon164 through the input I/F 54 (S64: Yes), the new year's card program 66transmits the print instruction information to the MFP 10A, which is thedesignated device, through the communication I/F 55 (S67). The printinstruction information includes the template image data generated inS46 to S50 and the first condition information. The process S67 is anexample of the operation instruction process. The process of the MFP10A, which has received the print instruction information, is the sameas that in S16.

The new year's card program 66 may further accept an operation fordesignating a postcard's destination, through the input I/F 54. Next,the new year's card program 66 may generate destination image dataindicating a name and an address of the designated destination. In S67,then, the new year's card program 66 may transmit the print instructioninformation indicating the double-sided printing operation, in which thedestination image indicated by the generated destination image data isrecorded on the address side of the postcard and the edited templateimage is recorded on the communication side, to the MFP 10A through thecommunication I/F 55.

Returning to FIG. 6, in response to determining that the new year's cardprogram 66 has been activated by the activation API executed by theoperation instruction program 65 (S41: operation instruction), the newyear's card program 66 acquires the second designated device informationand the second condition information delivered from the operationinstruction program 65 (S42). That is, the new year's card program 66may acquire the second designated device information and the secondcondition information designated as the arguments of the activation APIand may read the second designated device information and the secondcondition information stored in the specific area. The process S42 is anexample of an acquisition process.

Next, the new year's card program 66 determines whether the seconddesignated device information acquired in S42 includes the functioninformation corresponding to all the specific operations (that is, thedouble-sided printing operation and the postcard printing operation)that the new year's card program 66 can instruct the MFP 10 (S43). Then,in response to determining that the second designated device informationdoes not include the function information corresponding to thedouble-sided printing operation (S43: No), the new year's card program66 receives function information “impossible” corresponding to thedouble-sided printing operation from the MFP 10B identified by thedevice ID “MFP-B” of the second designated device information (S44).Then, the new year's card program 66 adds the function informationcorresponding to the double-sided printing operation received in S44 tothe second designated device information acquired in S42. On the otherhand, in response to determining that the second designated deviceinformation includes all the function information (S43: Yes), the newyear's card program 66 skips the process S44. The process S43 is anexample of a third determination process, and the process S44 is anexample of a reception process.

Next, the new year's card program 66 executes the device setting process(S45). The device setting process is a process of updating the firstdesignated device information and the first condition information storedpreviously in the memory 62 by the new year's card program 66 with thesecond designated device information and the second conditioninformation acquired from the operation instruction program 65 in S42,as necessary. With reference to FIG. 8, details of the device settingprocess will be described.

First, the new year's card program 66 determines whether the firstdesignated device information is stored in the memory 62 (S71). Inaddition, the new year's card program 66 determines whether the deviceID “MFP-A” of the first designated device information stored in thememory 62 matches the device ID “MFP-B” of the second designated deviceinformation acquired in S42 (S72). The device ID “MFP-B” of the seconddesignated device information is an example of the second device ID. Theprocesses S71 and S72 are examples of first determination processes.

Next, in response to determining that the first designated deviceinformation is stored in the memory 62 and the first designated deviceinformation is different in device ID from the second designated deviceinformation (S71: Yes & S72: No), The new year's card program 66determines whether the MFP 10B identified by the device ID “MFP-B” ofthe second designated device information can execute all the specificoperations (that is, the double-sided printing operation and thepostcard printing operation), which can be instructed by the new year'scard program 66, based on the function information of the seconddesignated device information (S73). The process S73 is an example of asecond determination process.

In the embodiment, since the MFP 10B cannot execute the double-sidedprinting operation out of the double-sided printing operation and thepostcard printing operation (S73: No), the new year's card program 66skips processes S74 to S78 and finishes the device setting process. Inresponse to determining that the first designated device information isstored in the memory 62 and the device ID of the first designated deviceinformation matches the device ID of the second designated deviceinformation (S71: Yes & S72: Yes), the new year's card program 66 skipsthe processes S73 to S78 and finishes the device setting process.

On the other hand, assuming that the MFP 10B is capable of executingboth the double-sided printing operation and the postcard printingoperation (S73:

Yes), the new year's card program 66 causes the display 53 to display aninquiry screen A illustrated in FIG. 12A (S74). Then, the new year'scard program 66 accepts an operation on the inquiry screen A through theinput I/F 54 (S75). The process S75 is an example of a third acceptanceprocess.

The inquiry screen A is a screen for allowing the user to select whichone of the first designated device information and the second designateddevice information is to be used. The inquiry screen A includes amessage “which application do you select to use the designated MFP?”, an“activation source” icon 171, and a “present application” icon 172. The“activation source” icon 171 corresponds to the second designated deviceinformation, and the device ID “MFP-B” of the second designated deviceinformation is described. The “present application” icon 172 correspondsto the first designated device information, and the device ID “MFP-A” ofthe first designated device information is described.

Next, in response to accepting the designation of the “activationsource” icon 171 through the input I/F 54 (S75: activation source), thenew year's card program 66 causes the memory 62 to store the seconddesignated device information, which is acquired from the operationinstruction program 65 in S42 and is added with the function informationcorresponding to the double-sided printing operation in S44, as thefirst designated device information (S76). That is, the first designateddevice information stored already in the memory 62 is overwritten. Thedesignation of the “activation source” icon 171 is an example of a firstoperation. The process S76 is an example of a second storage process.

Next, the new year's card program 66 determines whether the parameter“postcard” is set in the item “size” of the second condition informationacquired in S42 (S77). Then, in response to determining that theparameter “postcard” is set in the item “size” of the second conditioninformation (S77: Yes), the new year's card program 66 causes the memory62 to store the parameter “glossy paper” of the item “paper type” of thesecond condition information, as a parameter of the item “paper type” ofthe first condition information (S78). That is, the parameter of theitem “paper type” of the first condition information stored already inthe memory 62 is overwritten. On the other hand, the new year's cardprogram 66 does not overwrite the parameter of the item “color” in S78.The process S77 is an example of a fourth determination process, and theprocess S78 is an example of a third storage process.

The parameter “postcard” of the item “size” is a parameter which shouldnot be changed when the new year's card program 66 causes the designateddevice to execute the postcard printing operation. On the other hand,the item “paper type” is an item by which the user can select arbitraryparameters when the new year's card program 66 causes the designateddevice to execute the postcard printing operation. The item “size” is anexample of a specific item, the parameter “postcard” is an example of aspecific parameter, and the item “paper type” is an example of a targetitem. The specific item, the specific parameter, and the target item arepredetermined for each external program and are defined in a source codeof the external program or a setting file. That is, the specific item,the specific parameter, and the target item may be different for eachexternal program. In addition, a plurality of specific items, specificparameters, and target items may be used.

Meanwhile, in response to determining that the parameter “postcard” isnot set in the item “size” of the second condition information (S77:No), the new year's card program 66 skips the process S78 and finishesthe device setting process. In response to accepting the designation ofthe “present application” icon 172 through the input I/F 54 (S75:present application), the new year's card program 66 skips the processesS76 to S78 and finishes the device setting process. The designation ofthe “present application” icon 172 is an example of a second operation.

Further, in response to determining that the second designated deviceinformation is not stored in the memory 62 (S71: No), the new year'scard program 66 determines whether the MFP 10B identified by the deviceID “MFP-B” of the second designated device information can execute allthe specific operations (that is, the double-sided printing operationand the postcard printing operation), which can be instructed by the newyear's card program 66, based on the function information of the seconddesignated device information (S79). The process S79 is an example ofthe second determination process and may be the same as the process S73.

Next, in response to determining that the MFP 10B cannot execute thedouble-sided printing operation out of the double-sided printingoperation and the postcard printing operation (S79: No), the new year'scard program 66 causes the display 53 to display an inquiry screen Billustrated in FIG. 12B (S80). Then, the new year's card program 66accepts an operation on the inquiry screen B through the input I/F 54(S81). The process S81 is an example of a fourth acceptance process.

The inquiry screen B is a screen for allowing the user to select whetherto use the second designated device information or to cause the newyear's card program 66 to execute the device selection process. Theinquiry screen B includes a message [Do you select an activation sourceapplication to use the designated “MFP-B”?], a “YES” icon 181, and a“NO” icon 182. The “MFP-B” included in the message corresponds to thedevice ID of the second designated device information. The “YES” icon181 corresponds to using the second designated device information. The“NO” icon 182 corresponds to causing the new year's card program 66 toexecute the device selection process.

Then, in response to accepting the designation of the “YES” icon 181through the input I/F 54 (S81: Yes), the new year's card program 66executes processes subsequent to the process S76. On the other hand, inresponse to accepting the designation of the “NO” icon 182 through theinput I/F 54 (S82: NO), the new year's card program 66 executes thedevice selection process instead of the processes S76 to S78 (S82). Thedesignation of the “YES” icon 181 is an example of a third operation,and the designation of the “NO” icon 182 is an example of a fourthoperation. Furthermore, assuming that the MFP 10B is capable ofexecuting both the double-sided printing operation and the postcardprinting operation (S79: Yes), the new year's card program 66 skips theprocesses S80 and S81, and executes processes subsequent to the processS76.

Returning now to FIG. 6, the new year's card program 66 executes theprocesses subsequent to the process S46 described above. That is, whenthe process S76 is executed, the new year's card program 66 causes thedesignated device designated by the user through the operationinstruction program 65 to execute the printing operation (S67). On theother hand, when the process S76 is not executed, the new year's cardprogram 66 causes the designated device designated previously by theuser through the new year's card program 66 or the designated devicenewly designated by the user in S82 to execute the printing operation(S67). Furthermore, the new year's card program 66 can further executethe device selection process in S65 after executing the device settingprocess.

That is, when causing the memory 62 to store the first designated deviceinformation in S65, S76, and S82 which are previously executed, the newyear's card program 66 can execute the operation instruction processwithout executing the processes S65, S76, and S82 thereafter. That is,the new year's card program 66 can cause the designated device, which isindicated by the first designated device information and is used as adefault device, to repeatedly execute the image forming operation.

Operational Effects of the Embodiment

Since the new year's card program 66 according to the embodiment causesthe memory 62 to stores the second designated device informationacquired from the operation instruction program 65 as the firstdesignated device information when being activated by the operationinstruction program 65 installed in the portable terminal 50, the deviceselection process S65 can be skipped. That is, when the user of theportable terminal 50 designates the designated device through theoperation instruction program 65, it is necessary to designate thedesignated device again through the new year's card program 66, and thusthe operation for designating the designated device is simplified.

According to the embodiment, when the designated device is previouslydesignated through the new year's card program 66, the user can selectone of the designated device designated through the operationinstruction program 65 and the designated device designated previouslythrough the new year's card program 66, through the inquiry screen A.Thus, it is possible to cause a desired designated device to execute theimage forming operation with a simple operation.

According to the embodiment, when all the specific operations supportedby the new year's card program 66 can be executed by the designateddevice designated through the operation instruction program 65, theinquiry screen A is displayed. That is, when the “activation source”icon 171 on the inquiry screen A is tapped, the designated deviceindicated by the second designated device information overwritten in S76can execute all the specific operations which can be instructed by thenew year's card program 66. Thus, it is possible to effectively utilizethe functions implemented in the new year's card program 66.

According to the embodiment, when the designated device is notpreviously designated through the new year's card program 66, the usercan select whether to use the designated device designated through theoperation instruction program 65 or whether to designate newly thedesignated device through the new year's card program 66, through theinquiry screen B. Thus, it is possible to cause a desired designateddevice to execute the image forming operation with a simple operation.

According to the embodiment, when only some of the specific operationssupported by the new year's card program 66 can be executed by thedesignated device designated through the operation instruction program65, the inquiry screen B is displayed. That is, for example, the usermay tap the “YES” icon 181 to instruct the image forming operationexecutable by the designated device on the inquiry screen B through thenew year's card program 66, or may tap the “NO” icon 182 to instruct thespecific operation not executable by the designated device on theinquiry screen B. On the other hand, when all the specific operationssupported by the new year's card program 66 can be executed by thedesignated device designated through the operation instruction program65, the processes S80 and S81 are skipped, and thus the operation issimplified.

According to the embodiment, when the parameter “postcard” of the item“size” is included in the second condition information, the firstcondition information is overwritten with the second conditioninformation. The case where the parameter “postcard” of the item “size”is included in the second condition information is considered to be acase where an attempt is made to instruct the designated device toexecute the postcard printing operation through the operationinstruction program 65. Therefore, there is a high possibility thatparameters suitable for the postcard printing operation are also setwith respect to the other items “paper type” and “color” of the secondcondition information. Accordingly, when the process S78 is executed insuch a case, it is possible to simplify not only the operation fordesignating the designated device but also the operation for designatingthe execution conditions. However, the parameters of all items may beoverwritten in S78. In addition, the process S78 may be executedregardless of whether the second condition information includes aspecific parameter of a specific item.

In the MFP 10 and the portable terminal 50 of the above embodiment,there has been described an example in which various programs stored inthe memories 32 and 62 are executed by CPUs 31 and 61, whereby eachprocessing that the controller of this disclosure executes is realized.However, the configuration of the controller is not limited thereto,some or all of them may be realized by hardware such as an integratedcircuit.

This disclosure may be realized not only as the MFP 10 and the portableterminal 50 but also as a program of causing the MFP 10 and the portableterminal 50 to execute the processes. The program may be provided bybeing recorded in non-transitory recording medium. The non-transitoryrecording medium may include a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, and a storage mountedin a server which can be connected to the MFP 10 and the portableterminal 50 through the communication network 101. The program stored inthe storage of the server may be distributed through a communicationnetwork 101 such as the Internet in the form of information or signalindicating the program.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-readable instructions to control a portable terminal includinga memory, an input interface, and a communication interface, the memorystoring an operating system and an application program different fromthe operating system, the computer-readable instructions causing theportable terminal to perform determining whether the computer-readableinstructions is activated by the operating system of the portableterminal due to an operation through the input interface or activated bythe application program stored in the memory, the computer-readableinstructions, when it is determined that the computer-readableinstructions is activated by the operating system of the portableterminal due to the operation through the input interface, causing theportable terminal to perform: a first acceptance process of accepting anoperation, through the input interface, designating one of image formingdevices communicable through the communication interface; a firststorage process of causing the memory to store a first device ID foridentifying the image forming device designated by the first acceptanceprocess, as a designated device ID; the computer-readable instructions,when it is determined that the computer-readable instructions isactivated by the application program, causing the portable terminal toperform: an acquisition process of acquiring, from the applicationprogram, a second device ID for identifying the image forming devicewhich is designated by a user caused by the application program; and asecond storage process of causing the memory to store the second deviceID acquired by the acquisition process, as the designated device ID, thecomputer-readable instructions, after performing one of the firststorage process and the second storage process, causing the portableterminal to further perform: a second acceptance process of accepting anoperation designating contents of an image forming operation through theinput interface; and an operation instruction process of transmittingoperation instruction information for causing the image formingoperation having the contents designated by the second acceptanceprocess to be performed to the image forming device identified by thedesignated device ID stored in the memory, through the communicationinterface.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thecomputer-readable instructions according to claim 1, thecomputer-readable instructions further causing the portable terminal toperform: a first determination process of determining whether thedesignated device ID is stored in the memory in response to beingactivated by the application program stored in the memory; and a thirdacceptance process of accepting one of a first operation and a secondoperation through the input interface in response to determining in thefirst determination process that the designated device ID different fromthe second device ID is stored, wherein the computer-readableinstructions cause the portable terminal to: perform, in response toaccepting the first operation in the third acceptance process, thesecond storage process, and not perform, in response to accepting thesecond operation in the third acceptance process, the second storageprocess.
 3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thecomputer-readable instructions according to claim 2, thecomputer-readable instructions further causing the portable terminal to:acquire, in the acquisition process, function information indicatingwhether the image forming device identified by the second device ID iscapable of performing specific operations out of the plurality of imageforming operations, accept, in the first acceptance process, anoperation for designating one of the image forming devices capable ofperforming all the specific operations, which are capable of beinginstructed by the program, out of the image forming devices communicablethrough the communication interface, and wherein the computer-readableinstructions further causes the portable terminal to: perform, inresponse to determining in the first determination process that thedesignated device ID different from the second device ID is stored, asecond determination process of determining whether the image formingdevice identified by the second device ID is capable of performing allthe specific operations, which are capable of being instructed by theprogram based on the function information, and perform, in response todetermining in the second determination process that all the specificoperations are capable of performing, the third acceptance process. 4.The non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thecomputer-readable instructions according to claim 2, thecomputer-readable instructions further causing the portable terminal to:perform, in response to determining in the first determination processthat the designated device ID is not stored, a fourth acceptance processof accepting a third operation or a fourth operation through the inputinterface, perform, in response to accepting the third operation in thefourth acceptance process, the second storage process, and perform, inresponse to accepting the fourth operation in the fourth acceptanceprocess, the first acceptance process.
 5. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing the computer-readable instructionsaccording to claim 4, the computer-readable instructions further causingthe portable terminal to: acquire, in the acquisition process, functioninformation indicating whether the image forming device identified bythe second device ID is capable of performing specific operations out ofthe plurality of image forming operations, and wherein thecomputer-readable instructions further cause the portable terminal to:perform, in response to determining in the first determination processthat the designated device ID is not stored, a second determinationprocess of determining whether the image forming device identified bythe second device ID is capable of performing all the specificoperations, which are capable of being instructed by the program, basedon the function information; perform, in response to determining in thesecond determination process that the image forming device is notcapable of performing at least one of the specific operations, thefourth acceptance process, and perform, in response to determining inthe second determination process that the image forming is capable ofperforming all the specific operations, the second storage processwithout performing of the fourth acceptance process.
 6. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium storing the computer-readableinstructions according to claim 3, wherein, previous to the seconddetermination process, the computer-readable instructions further causethe portable terminal to perform: a third determination process ofdetermining whether the function information corresponding to all thespecific operations executable by the program is acquired by theacquisition process; and a reception process of, in response todetermining in the third determination process that the functioninformation is not acquired, receiving the function information notacquired by the acquisition process from the image forming deviceidentified by the second device ID, through the communication interface.7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thecomputer-readable instructions according to claim 1, thecomputer-readable instructions further causing the portable terminal to:acquire, in the acquisition process, condition information indicatingperforming conditions of the image forming device, wherein thecomputer-readable instructions further cause the portable terminal toperform: a third storage process of causing the memory to store thecondition information acquired by the acquisition process, and whereinthe operation instruction information is information for causing theimage forming operation of the contents designated in the secondacceptance process to be performing according to the performingconditions indicated by the condition information stored in the memory.8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thecomputer-readable instructions according to claim 7, wherein thecondition information includes a plurality of parameters eachcorresponding to one of a plurality of items, and wherein thecomputer-readable instructions cause the portable terminal to: perform afourth determination process of determining whether a specific parameterof a specific item is included in the condition information acquired inthe acquisition process, and perform, in response to determining in thefourth determination process that the specific parameter is included,the third storage process.
 9. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium storing the computer-readable instructions according to claim 8,the computer-readable instructions further causing the portable terminalto: cause, in the third storage process, the memory to store only theparameter corresponding to a target item different from the specificitem, out of the plurality of parameters included in the conditioninformation acquired in the acquisition process.
 10. A non-transitorycomputer-readable medium storing computer-readable instructions tocontrol a portable terminal including a memory storing an externalprogram, an input interface, and a communication interface, thecomputer-readable instructions causing the portable terminal to perform:a first acceptance process of accepting an operation designating animage forming device communicable through the communication interface,through the input interface; a second acceptance process of accepting anoperation designating contents of an image forming operation through theinput interface; a first operation instruction process of transmittingoperation instruction information for causing the image formingoperation having the contents designated in the second acceptanceprocess to be performed to the image forming device designated in thefirst acceptance process, through the communication interface, a programacceptance process of accepting an operation for designating theexternal program stored in the memory, through the input interface; andan activation process of activating the external program designated inthe program acceptance process and transferring a device ID foridentifying the image forming device designated in the first acceptanceprocess, wherein when the external program is activated, the externalprogram causes the portable terminal to perform determining whether theexternal program is activated by an operating system of the portableterminal due to an operation through the input interface or activated bythe computer-readable instructions, wherein the external program, whenit is determined that the external program is activated by the computerinstructions, causing the portable terminal to perform: a storageprocess of storing, in the memory, the device ID transferred by thecomputer-readable instructions, as a designated device ID; a thirdacceptance process of accepting an operation designating contents of theimage forming operation through the input interface; and a secondoperation instruction process of transmitting operation instructioninformation for causing the image forming operation having the contentsdesignated by the third acceptance process to be performed to the imageforming device identified by the designated device ID stored in thememory, through the communication interface.